The top five solar panel problems, according to a recent survey by Which? Magazine

Firstly, if you have already added solar panels to your home, good for you. If you are looking at getting a set of panels on your roof, and live in and around Loughborough, you have found the right place. In spite of making their ecologically sound move, some customers have had problems with their installations. In June of this year, Which? Magazine conducted a survey on solar panel problems.

In their survey, 1,265 people were polled, with the top five solar panel problems being as follows:

Inverter Problems (40%);

Electrical/system problems (16%);

Loose/damaged roof tiles (15%);

Meter problems (7%);

Panel problems (4%).

Outside the Top Five, customers experienced problems with: accidental damage to their panels (3%): other parts (2%); and isolators (1%). Other than solar panel problems within their system, there was one external factor quoted by 25% of those surveyed.

Birds. Fouling or nesting.

Of the 25% of respondents, some cited that birds nested underneath their solar panels. One of the respondents solved this by filling the gaps with chicken wire. Others cited bird droppings as their main issue, coating the solar panels.

Most of the problems have occurred within their first year of installation. Solar panels have a design life of 20 years and in that time, some of the parts may need replacing. This was true with inverters, where one in ten users had to replace them, over the last four years. With inverters setting you back a thousand pounds, they are hardly something you can buy in a hurry.

If you turn to us for solar panel installations, we at LJ Electrical can give you an installation without the solar panel problems observed by Which? Magazine’s respondents. If we can find a humane way of booting the birds off your panels, we would with open arms.